PEANUT-EATING PULL
Johnson, Lucy
Peanut-eating Pull Morte D'Urban, by J. F. Powers. Doubleday. 336 pp. $4.50. Reviewed by Lucy Johnson FAther Urban, in his triumphs and humiliations, and this first novel, of which he is the...
...Urban is...
...Father Urban is not a model of purity and valor, but an ordinary, fallible man who tries his best to be a good man and a good priest...
...they embody completely what Powers has to say...
...There is a tournament of champions on a golf course, where a mortal wound is delivered by the Bishop...
...and weaving in and out among them all, Father Urban, pushing, pulling, cajoling, subtly threatening, keeping order ("All right, fellas"), raising enthusiasm, putting a good face on things, courting, playing hard to get...
...Although Morte D'Urban has a relaxed and episodic shape, its narrative has a compulsive, peanut-eating pull that keeps you reading just another chapter...
...He fights his battles for his Order and his Church, but for his own satisfaction, too...
...His successes and failures run hand in hand, and each has two faces...
...Father Urban is a fiftyish, handsome, dashing, worldly priest of the Order of St...
...The Arthurian theme indicated in the title provides a series of ironic parallels which even to my untutored eye are completely delightful...
...Powers' creation...
...At the peak of his success his Provincial transfers him to the Order's newest white elephant, a retreat house outside a bleak small town in Minnesota, where he will be one of a four-man staff...
...To dowdy, make-do St...
...Billy Cos-grove, a rich man throwing his weight around...
...That he sees himself as one of the "Lambs Who Lay Down with Lions and Lived" or "Conquering Lions" (two possible titles for a history he thinks of writing about holy men of great finesse who dealt with contumacious world-movers) is the essence of the humor and the humanity of Mr...
...He is not selling anything or arguing or attacking or defending...
...There is a momentous sea-fight in which dunk-ings are exchanged on a fishing trip...
...Powers—where is he, where does he stand...
...And Mr...
...some retired businessmen discussing the parable of the unjust steward...
...a hunting lodge owner getting along with his guests...
...Reviewed by Lucy Johnson FAther Urban, in his triumphs and humiliations, and this first novel, of which he is the hero, are wonderfully complete creations...
...This is the way the world is—only funnier...
...And finally, he is a purified Arthur, doing what he must, presiding over the liquidation of his Round Table...
...Father Wilfrid, a man whose conversation would set a saint's teeth on edge...
...Powers, always a wonder with dialogue, lets his characters talk their way into the world of people you know...
...The book is...
...None of this will come as a surprise to admirers of J. F. Powers' two books of short stories, Prince of Darkness and The Presence of Grace...
...There is even a Lady of the Lake who leaves Urban stranded on an island...
...Clement's Hill he brings his optimism and energy and continues to think big and to be a bit of an operator...
...Clement...
...Well out of sight and out of mind...
...Nor will the fact that the book is original, funny, ironic, and wryly moving...
Vol. 26 • October 1962 • No. 10
